By Doug Adams
For many of America’s row crop producers, the 2025 marketing year has made it painfully clear how fragile export-dependent income can be. Midway through the peak season, Chinese soybean demand shifted heavily toward South American suppliers, leaving U.S. farmers watching from the sidelines as billions in potential sales went elsewhere. Softer export sales and added global competition have put pressure on futures prices, squeezed margins, and made it even harder to plan.
In response, the federal government announced a new $12 billion aid package for farmers hit by trade-driven losses and rising costs of seed, fertilizer, and equipment. Funded through the Commodity Credit Corporation, the program is designed to get cash out the door ahead of the 2026 planting season, so producers can keep operating while policymakers continue to debate broader solutions.
This kind of support matters. It pays overhead expenses which ensures fields get planted. But producers know better than anyone that stopgap measures are not a reliable business model. In response to the aid package, many producers are responding with a shared sentiment: as welcome as the new aid is, it will not fully cover the financial hit from lost export revenue and sustained cost pressures.